Personally (but not detailed) inspection of an auction 4.2 at the McCormick’s Palm Spring auction. Why wouldn’t I check it out better? Because it was not a very good car. Represented by a very, very well know Jaguar “specialist”. I think the whole deal was either a scam or the buyers were very unfamiliar with value. Supposedly bid to ~ $115 000,. The representing agent said to an inspecting client he was looking for ~$150 000, . I doubt there were real bids to the $115 k.
Agent said it was a good driver. Every part was worn and had the look you’d expect in maybe 1974 from a Jag that was just driven around Southern CA and had a few oil changes. Looks like an arrangement with the auction people to add some interest to the auction to fill out a slot. What was it really worth? Based only on Bring a Trailer photos (with the limitations of photos, of course) this was a $50 k car if that.
I’d sell ours for $115 k all day long and you couldn’t turn that thing into ours without replacing everything.
I looked at the various options to pass mine on, including the Auction Houses and thanks to someone here, discovered BAT as one of them. It was a most interesting experience, and I came away convinced that Bring a Trailer, as a virtual work in progress, is definitely one of the 21st Century disruptors in that space, more representative of the marketplace than the BAH (Big Auction Houses), and more cost/value efficient for both buyers and sellers end to end up to the hammer.
According to a “Sports Car Market” article or comments submission some time ago, it is permitted to invent a bid on a car at auction to stimulate bids. I think the Jag at McCormicks had only invented bids. The wild variation in prices of cars actually sold can often be explained and sometimes can’t be understood. I sold a TR250 for my brother when we visited him in Northern CA. It sold easily when it would’ve been nearly sale proof at the price we got in the Midwest. My other brother in North VT couldn’t sell his 928 due to a lack of humans living near by!
We sold tuner parts for an Infinity G37xS because young guys from Chicago drove up to Wisconsin to snap them up. Location, location, location for some auto items I guess.
It seems you just need to keep expectations at sale to within 20% - or so, as the variation can be easily that big.